TAGOLU, Sulawesi — Muslim groups are trying to prevent Christians from rebuilding their homes, says Mona Saroinsong, coordinator of the Protestant Church Crisis Centre in North and Central Sulawesi. Following last November’s violence in Central Sulawesi, the presence of additional armed forces has resulted in “a significant cooling down.”
The government, keen to implement last December’s Malino agreement, which seeks to re-establish the peaceful cohabitation of Christians and Muslims, is pressuring people to return to their villages. Nevertheless, Christian families are experiencing threats and stone-throwing when they start to rebuild their houses or tend their crops. On March 17, more than 500 Laskar Jihad, a Muslim extremist group, went to Tagolu, a village five miles south of Poso, and threatened the Christians. Christians told Saroinsong they were living in constant fear of anti-Christian violence.
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